Press Releases

24 Jun 2019 The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has today published a new report, ‘Smiling matters: oral health care in care homes’. Professor Michael Escudier, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) at the Royal College of Surgeons, has welcomed the report saying it resonates with many of the reflections and recommendations made in the FDS's own report on improving older people’s oral health.

13 Jun 2019 Surgeons are concerned that the NHS does not have a clear plan to tackle the growing backlog of patients waiting for operations, as new figures reveal more than 4.3 million stuck on hospital waiting lists. NHS England performance data published today for April 2019 shows that only 86.5% of patients waiting to start planned, consultant-led hospital treatment were seen within 18 weeks. The legal target is 92%.

06 Jun 2019 The Royal College of Surgeons has urged dog lovers to remember that while dogs may be man’s best friend they can, and at times do, bite. Latest NHS Digital figures show that more than 23,000 hospital admissions in the past three years were related to people being bitten or struck by dogs.

06 Jun 2019 The Royal College of Surgeons has responded to the final report of an independent review into how the law on gross negligence manslaughter and culpable homicide are applied to medical practice which has been published today. The working group’s final report includes 29 recommendations for the General Medical Council (GMC) and a range of organisations across the UK, covering local, coronial, criminal and regulatory processes.

30 May 2019 Mr Mark Taylor, Director for Northern Ireland at the Royal College of Surgeons, has responded to waiting time statistics for Northern Ireland published today. He has said there is a real onus on political leaders to put aside differences and establish local government as quickly as possible to assist in the massive task ahead. He adds it will only be with political leadership, sustained funding and ongoing transformation of the health and social care service that we will bring about the necessary reduction to waiting lists in Northern Ireland.

24 May 2019 Professor Michael Escudier, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons, has commented on the sad news of Professor Jack Rowe's passing.

14 May 2019 The Department of Health and Social Care has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the risks associated with cosmetic procedures. The RCS website has a wealth of independent information for patients to help them make an informed decision about cosmetic surgery.

10 May 2019 The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has this week published new guidance to provide surgeons with up-to-date thinking on the development and implementation of surgical innovations, such as robot-assisted surgery and new operating techniques. The RCS says a strong framework is needed for developing surgical innovations to ensure that patient safety, as well as the patients’ best interests, always come first.

09 May 2019 The number of people waiting to start planned, consultant-led hospital treatment was 4.23 million in March 2019, 10% higher than the same period last year (3.84 million), official figures show. This means NHS Commissioners and hospitals have failed to meet a key target set in NHS England and NHS Improvement’s planning guidance for 2018/19.

25 Apr 2019 Dentists could play a greater role in detecting health conditions – given the link between oral health and conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery has said.